The Mask of a Hero
by Renzoku
Summary: Valoran is a place of corruption, and not even Demacia is safe from it. Returning war veteran Vestos isn't even slightly okay with this, so he decides to put on a mask and fight the corruption, one figure with too much power at a time.
1. Whispers

Chapter One

"Whispers"

"Just a few more questions before we finish here, okay?"

"Why, of course. Please, ask away."

"First, let's get a few things straight. Your name is Vestos, correct?"

"Vestos, yes. Vestos Otli."

"Okay… next, do you have any relatives?"

"None that are living, no. I lost my parents at a young age."

"Right, right. And one last question."

"Ask away."

"Do you any war experience?" The question caught Vestos off guard. He wondered if he was recognized somehow, but decided to play it as calmly as he possibly could."

"No, I've never gone to war."

"Okay, that's all for the questions. However, on the topic of war; the Demacian army is looking for recruits, if you ever wish to try out."

"Is that so? Maybe some time down the road I'll sign up. But it's pretty late and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so is it okay if we wrap this up?"

"Yes, that's actually everything I have to say. Congratulations, Mr. Otil, you're officially a homeowner!" The man put his hand out, and Vestos shook his hand, smiling."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good night."

"You too, Mr. Otil." The man turned around and left the house, finally leaving Vestos to his own. He put his bag down and sat on the couch. He had a long day, but his night hadn't even begun yet. He reached into his bag and started to dig through it. He had only brought things he thought he might need with him. He brought a LOT of money with him, which he got at the end of the journey he never told the man about. He took the money and put it in his drawer. The next thing he pulled out of the bag was a change of clothes, the only change of clothes he brought, and it was for this specific reason. He quickly took off the clothes he had and changed into these new clothes. It was a shade of dark red, and was very light. He wanted to be as agile as possible for what he was about to do. Reaching into his bag again, he pulled out a sheath. He wrapped the sheath around him, and reached into his bag one last time. This time, he pulled out two things: A mask, and his blade. The mask was also a shade of dark red, and was expressionless. He wanted his identity to be as concealed as possible. He set it down for a second, and picked up his blade. Once upon a time, he wasn't a big fan of using his blade for much, but he learned how to effectively use it over time. He put his blade in the sheath, and picked up the mask, starring at it. He knew what he had to do, and why he had to do it. He just couldn't believe that it came to this.

He sighed deeply, and put on the mask. It covered a majority of his face, with holes cut in for the eyes, and a section open for his mouth, and the rest of his face under it. Within the both holes cut out for his eyes, there were small one-way mirrors. He could see through them perfectly fine, but nobody would be able to see his eyes. Nobody would be able to see that pain that's deep in his eyes. The constant reminder that he had to sink to a lower level than he thought imaginable to become the man who's going to make things right. While things may be right around him, his mind will never be right. That pain will never leave his eyes.

He went out the back entrance of his house and climbed to the roof. For now, he was going to keep a low profile. He didn't want to make a public appearance, not yet. It would be better if he were just a whisper. He had a goal, but he wasn't sure how to accomplish it- not just yet. But he wouldn't stop until he found a way. On his roof, he took a few steps back, and then ran forward and leaped onto the roof of the next building over. This was common practice for him at this point, thanks to military training. He continued to hop building after building, until he reached the… darker part of Demacia. Even a city that's meant to be a symbol of hope has it's dark corners, and Vestos had just found one of Demacia's. He leaned over the building to look into an alleyway, and saw a blonde haired girl being backed into a corner by some random street thug.

"G-Get away from me!" The girl's voice was full of fear. Vestos recognized the sound of fear in someone's voice all too well. The voice of someone who won't do anything but quiver in fear as they lose everything. This wasn't exactly corruption, but the whispers had to start somewhere. The man continued to walk forward, and pulled something out of his pocket. Short and shiny, probably a dagger of some kind.

"I warned you. I fucking WARNED you to stay the fuck out of my sight!" The girl shrieked a little and backed up until she was against the wall. The man continued to walk forward. "I told you that I'll slit your throat if you came back here, and you did anyways. You fucking bitch." The girl lost her balance and fell to her knees, while the man continued to inch closer to her, gripping his knife tightly in his hand. "Now you're gonna have to die to me." Vestos jumped down from the rooftop and landed behind him. It was a pretty long fall, but falls like that were nothing for him anymore. It was a part of his lifestyle for many, many years at this point.

"Get away from the girl." Vestos spoke in a much lower tone, just in case anyone could recognize his voice. The man turned around and gave Vestos a cold stare.

"Oh lookie here, a lapdog in a mask coming to save you! Sheesh, you're a couple months off of Harrowing, pal." The girl slowly stood up and looked at the man in dark red. To be honest, she wasn't sure who to be more afraid of.

"Walk away from the girl, and you can leave without your fingers up your ass. Your call." This caused the man to laugh.

"So what's your idea, you can put on a mask and some suit with matching colors, and start being a hero? It doesn't work like that, buddy. Let me show you WHY!" The man lunged at Vestos, but he was able to dodge out of the way of his knife. He grunted and began to slash at him angrily, trying his hardest to hit him, but Vestos was able to dodge every single one. The man began to pant. "Come on… fight me like a man!" He struggled to breathe, he never had to actually fight someone before. He usually was able to fear people into dying without fighting back. Vestos was different, he was immune to fear. Vestos slowly walked towards the man. Seeing this, he mustered up all the strength he could and attempted to stab Vestos, but Vestos simply grabbed his hand. The man looked up at Vestos, and starred in fear at his mask. Vestos didn't want to kill him, but he couldn't just let him walk away. Vestos punched him in the gut and threw him to the wall. The man fell unconscious instantly, as Vestos began to walk towards the girl.

"Are you okay?" Vestos spoke calmly. He didn't want to scare the girl anymore than he already did.

"W-Who are you..?"

"I could ask you the same question. You don't look like you belong in this kind of area. Where are you from?"

"My name… my name is Lux. I'm… surprised you don't know me, actually… I'm pretty well known."

"I don't go out much. I have more important things to do with my time."

"Like… beat people up in random alleyways?"

"...When the time comes, I suppose." She chuckled, very slightly.

"So, I gave you my name. What do I call you?" Vestos pondered the question for a moment. He couldn't say his actual name, so he needed something else."

"Call me… Suken."

"Suken? That's… a nice name."

"Thank you, but I really must go now. Even people who wear masks and beat up street street thugs need sleep." She chuckled again, this time not as softly. Vestos bowed and walked to the wall. He jumped up and kicked his feet against the wall, pushing him towards the other wall in an upwards direction. He continued to kick himself off of walls until he was out of the alleyway, as Lux watched in awe.

"He's so cool…"

After a bit of roof hopping, Vestos made it back to his home. He slid in through the back door and changed back into the only other clothes he had. "I really need to buy clothes tomorrow…" he thought to himself, as he hid his things, making sure nobody could find them if they tried. He slid into bed after that. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day. But he had to get through it. He had to endure everything.

Anything to keep the one person he cares about safe.


	2. Friendship

Chapter Two

"Friendship"

Vestos woke up early that morning. He had to go shopping for clothes. Even though he planned on running around the city at night in a mask and suit, he wanted to be able to live a normal life outside of that. He grabbed some cash and walked outside. He had been to Demacia a long time ago, so he knew the layout of the land. He went to the nearest mall and began to look for clothes to wear. He didn't want anything special, just some generic clothes. He walked around the street, and saw a lot of people whispering to each other. He didn't get to hear much, but he heard a few things about a mask. It seemed like word had gotten out about him, which was good and bad. It was good because now he has a bit of a reputation, and probably a good one since he saved Lux, who is a very important figure in Demacia. However, this meant that being stealthy was going to be harder. He'd still have opportunities to slip through the night, but he'd have to be much, much more discreet. He pondered how he was going to do this as he walked into the mall. He didn't really need anything besides clothes, but he had never actually been to a mall before. He walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, until he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking." he said to the girl he bumped into. However, he instantly recognized the long blonde hair, and realized it was Lux. Lux shot her eyes forward as he spoke. He had the same voice as the man in the mask last night, the exact same. Though, as she looked at him, he couldn't recognize his face at all.

"N-No, it's okay... " she responded, completely skeptical of his voice. "Hey, I don't think I recognize you. Are you new here?"

"Yeah, I just moved in last night." Vestos kept his calm, he didn't want his identity revealed, but he thought Lux was catching on already. And he was right, Lux was extremely interested in Suken, which meant that she was interested in someone who sounds exactly the same. It couldn't be just a coincidence, it had to be more. At least, that's what she thought. "Sorry, I'm in a bit of a rush to get on with shopping. Excuse me." Vestos began to walk away. Lux turned and opened her mouth, but she couldn't find anything to say. Instead she walked away and left the mall, not even remembering why she was these in the first place. She got outside and took her phone out and began to call someone. After a few seconds, someone picked up.

"Lux?"

"Garen, do you know if anyone has moved into Demacia recently?" She needed information on him, so far she didn't even have a name.

"Why are you asking? Did something happen? Are you hurt?!"

"No, I'm perfectly fine. Nevermind why I'm asking, just give me info."

"There has been only one person who recently moved in, just last night actually, but…"

"But…?"

"There are no records of him, anywhere. No arrests, no parking tickets, no schooling… it's like he doesn't exist. The only thing we have on him is the name he gave us, Vestos Otil."

"What?! But… how is that even possible?" Lux was beyond confused now. How could someone not exist, when you can see them with your own two eyes?"

"Look, Lux. I would stay away from him. If he has no record, then for all we know he has no morals either."

"...Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later, Garen." Lux hung up on her brother and looked behind her. She looked through the crowd of people for that dark red shade of hair he had. She looked and looked, and eventually she saw him. He was holding a bag in his hand, full of… something. Clothes, maybe. She ran through the crowd and eventually got closer to him. "Hey! Wait up!" She was a decent runner due to military training at a young age- or at least, she used to be. She had fallen out of practice. After some more running, she eventually caught up to him. He turned around and looked down at her as she held her knees and panted.

"Uh… is there something you need, miss?"

"What? OH! Yes, sorry, just give me a minute, I haven't run in a while." Vestos chuckled. He wrapped an arm around Lux and brought her to the wall so she could lean on it and catch her breath. He leaned next to her and waited.

"So, once you catch your breath, what exactly is it you needed?"

Lux finished catching her breath after a few more seconds and began to speak. "You said that you're new here, right?"

"Yeah, I just moved in last night. Why?"

"I'm just curious… why did you choose Demacia?" Vestos sighed, softly.

"Well… all of the other city states just seem so… corrupted, you know? This place seems a lot better than the rest, so I chose here."

"Well, I'm glad to meet you! My name is Lux, by the way." Lux held her hand out towards him.

"Vestos. A pleasure to meet you." Vestos put his hand out and shook her's. Vestos was certain she was on to him. He had a choice here. He could he friendly to her, and potentially even make an ally… or he could be an asshole and walk away. To him, it was a very hard choice. He wanted the best- not only for him- but for everyone else, too. That's why he was doing what he's doing. But maybe… doing the right thing and being an asshole at the same time wasn't necessary. While a million things ran through his mind, a million more things ran through Lux's. She knew it was a bad idea to be friendly with him, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't generally allowed to talk to many people due to her overprotective brother and parents, but she felt a sense of freedom around him. He felt like the kind of person who was doing everything he wanted to- and then some.

Disrupting both of their thoughts, Lux's phone suddenly rang. She took it out of her pocket and saw it was Garen. "Ugh… stupid brother. I'm sorry, I have to take this. Can I see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? I should be free, yeah. Where do you wanna meet?"

"How about we meet here? We can go wherever after that!" Suddenly there was a glow in Lux's eyes. A glow of pure happiness. A happiness she had never felt before.

Adorable.

"I'll be here." Lux smiled at him, and he smiled back. Lux turned away and picked up her phone. Vestos turned around and walked the other way.

"Lux, I want you off the street. NOW."

"Garen, what? Did something happen?"

"There's some guy here, a thug. He's saying he got beaten senseless last night by some freak in a red mask." Lux's heart skipped a beat. That must have been the thug from last night. She thought she should keep the fact that she saw Suken a secret, at least for now. Her family would go crazy if they found out.

"Okay, I'm on my way home."

 _Meanwhile_

Vestos was on his way home, when suddenly he heard a loud siren. He looked around and saw people with mega phones everywhere. "Everyone, evacuate the area! There's a criminal on the loose!" The people on the street went into complete pandemonium when they heard this. Screams of complete terror. Vestos ran through the crowd and got into the nearest alleyway. He ran to the end and looked back, nobody was following him. He needed a good idea of what was happening. He kicked his way up the walls the way he did last night and got to the rooftop. He peeked his head over the corners, and saw everyone running in one general direction. He started to hop roofs and run into the opposite direction, to try and find what they were running away from. As he was running, he looked down and noticed a lack of any Demacian officials. No police, no royal guards… nothing. Odd, to say the very least. If someone broke out of prison, they should have people roaming the streets looking for them. The thought of this being bait crossed his mind, but he couldn't risk it not being bait. As he kept hopping houses, he ended up at his own. He got inside and quickly changed out of his clothes and into his suit. He grabbed his mask and put it on. Before leaving, he picked up his blade and sheath. He didn't really like to use it at all, but if it was a criminal who broke out, then he had no choice but to bring it with him. Thanks to the blade's magical properties, he knew it'd come in handy. He got back onto the roof and started hopping roofs even faster. After a few more roofs, he found where the action was coming from.

"Keep it coming, boys! We need to keep going until we get that masked freak's attention! He'll pay for what he's done to our man!" There he was, a man standing in front of 4 others. A gang leader of some sort, and he was angry at the masked man for taking down the thug, from what he could tell. He knew it was legit now, but there were still no Demacian officials. Was this really so unimportant to them?

"Boss! Look at who we're got here!" Another supposed gang member came out, holding someone by the arm. He threw the person on the floor, and Vestos felt his heart skip a beat.

"Well, well! If it isn't Luxanna Crownguard herself! You've got some nerve showing up here, girl." The man walked over and grabbed Lux by the shoulder.

"Let go of me!" Lux cried out, but the man simply laughed in her face. He couldn't let Lux get hurt. He jumped down from the rooftop and stared them down.

"I'd listen to the girl, unless you want to end up like your friend."


	3. Ambushed

Chapter 3

"Ambushed"

Vestos slowly inched towards the thugs. The leader, or whoever he was, fell silent for a few moments. He shook his head and began to speak in his loud tone again.

"And there he is! The maniac in a mask himself! Just who are you, anyways?" He gripped Lux's shoulder tightly.

"Let. Her. Go." Vestos reached behind him and took out his blade. As his blade came out, all of the other thugs took a step back. They were scared out of their minds, but their leader kept up his facade of bravado. He looked back at his crew with anger in his eyes.

"What are you waiting for?! KILL HIM!" The thugs snapped out of their trance and all began to charge towards Vestos at once. There was still distance between them, so Vestos had time to handle them all before he was in danger. He closed his eyes, and his blade started to glow a bright red color. He opened his eyes and saw the thugs getting closer by the second. As soon as they were a bit over a foot away from him, he jumped backwards into the air and sliced horizontally in front of him. As he sliced, his blade sent out a blast of magic, hitting the ground right at the feet of the thugs. As the blast hit the ground, there was a small explosion and they were sent flying in multiple directions. As they hit the wall and floors, their bodies became bruised and their minds fell completely unconscious. They weren't dead, but they weren't going to be moving any time soon. The leader's facade of bravery was quickly fading.

"I'm going to say this one last time. Let the girl go, or your body will break faster than your make-believe bravery." The thug stood still, completely immobilized by fear. "RELEASE HER!" The thug jumped and let go of Lux, and ran in the opposite direction. Lux ran at Vestos and held onto him tightly, sobbing everywhere. "Shh… it's okay, you're safe now."

"S-Suken… it hurts…" Suken paused for a moment. What hurts. He looked down and suddenly noticed a trail of crimson coming from where she was standing.

"Oh, shit…" Vestos picked her up and ran into the direction of his house. He couldn't hop roofs with her, it was too risky. After a few minutes of running, there was a blockade, entirely full of Demacian soldiers.

"Stop right there!" They all raised their blades towards Vestos at once. Vestos quickly realized that him holding Lux with a bloody trail behind him could give people a terribly wrong idea.

"This girl has been stabbed! She needs medical attention, now!"

"I will get her all of the medical attention she needs." Coming out of the crowd came 2 figures that anyone who lived in Demacia recognized. The Might of Demacia, Garen Crownguard; and the Grand Duelist, Fiora Laurent. "Hand me my sister. Now." Vestos had no reason not to listen to him. He walked over and gave Lux to her brother. Garen turned around and looked at Fiora. "I leave the rest to you, Fiora." Garen ran away, desperately trying to get Lux to safety, while Fiora starred Vestos down.

"It has come to our attention that you have been roaming our streets and hurting people. Tell me, why?" Fiora never broke her stare, but neither did Vestos.

"I don't answer to you. Nor do I answer to anyone. I saved Lux from a gang of thugs, and now she is in the capable hands of her brother. I've done my fair share of good for the night, haven't I?" Fiora's stare didn't falter even still. For some reason, she was determined to see this masked man as evil.

Fiora lifted her blade and pointed it at Vestos. "What do I call you?" Vestos sighed and grabbed his blade, pointing it at her as she did to him

"Suken." Fiora smirked and lowered her blade. Vestos lowered his in response, but never did he let her leave his sight.

"Prepare yourself, Suken, the Masked Maniac…" Fiora quickly raised her sword again. "This street shall be your grave!" Fiora quickly lunges forward, but Vestos jumped back. Vestos could win this fight if he did it right, but there was a problem with that. Vestos continued to jump away from Fiora's strikes, while thinking of a way to get away without harming her. He would quickly become public enemy #1 if he were to hurt someone like her. As Fiora lunged at him again, Vestos blocked her blade with his, as they both pushed against each other. She was strong, but not as strong as he was. He pushed harder, and Fiora fell to her knees.

"Give up here, I don't want to kill you." Fiora stared up at him with a fire in her eyes.

"I will never back down!" Fiora reached into her pocket and pulled out her hidden blade, then lunged forward and tried to stab Vestos. Vestos jumped out of the way, and saw that there was no getting away from this. Fiora got up and lunged at him again, rapier in hand this time, but instead of jumping away, Vestos grabbed moved slightly to the slide and then grabbed the handle of her blade. Vestos proceeded to knee Fiora in the chest, and then kicked her back down to the floor. He threw her rapier to the side, and took a deep breath.

"This battle is over. You cannot defeat me, and I refuse to take your life." Vestos started to walk away, but then turned his head and said one last thing.

"I am not your enemy, Fiora. But I will fight and defeat anyone who gets in my way. Don't make me do something we'll both regret." After saying everything he needed, he ran into the nearest alleyway. He kicked his way up the buildings and sat on the rooftop. Before jumping away, he looked back down. Fiora looked somewhat defeated, but even more so than that, she looked… terrified. Vestos had no choice but to dismiss it and move on. It was starting to get late. He had wondered if he was still on to see Lux tomorrow after she got stabbed, but he couldn't afford to risk not going. He began to hop the roofs to get back home.

 _Meanwhile_

Slowly awakening from unconsciousness, Lux woke up with a horrible headache. As she slowly came to, she started to remember what happened. She felt all around her body, but she quickly noticed that… there were no bandages on her. No scars, nothing. It was almost as if she hadn't been stabbed. But… how? There was no way she could have gotten out of that without even a scratch. What was more, she didn't even recognize where she was. She heard talking. Not even talking- she heard yelling. She left the room she was in and started to walk down the hallway. It took her a minute, but she recognized where she was. This was Jarvan's castle, but why was she here? She could only imagine that Garen was the one to bring her here, but she didn't know why. She went towards the throne room and went to knock on the door, but as she was moving her hand she heard someone yell from behind the door. She put her ear to the door and listened closely.

"Fiora… you're telling me you let him get AWAY?"

"Jarvan, I swear, he's skilled… there's something about him that-"

"ENOUGH! I don't want to hear any of your excuses. You KNOW how important this is, Fiora. You KNOW!"

"Jarvan, I swear that I-" Her voice was cut off by a gargling noise, leading to the sound of something falling to the floor.

"Worthless minion…" Jarvan sighed, and Lux heard his movement. Lux quickly ran away from the door. She just heard Fiora die, to the man who is the prince of what is supposed to be the most honorable place on Valoran. Jarvan IV himself, a traitor?! She knew Jarvan, as did her brother. He would never do something like this, there was definitely something up. She knew that the only person who would help her is Suken though. Garen wouldn't believe that this happened, not even for a second. Lux began to head towards the exit when she heard someone call her name.

"Answer me, Lux."

"O-Oh, Jarvan! I'm sorry, I was knocked out and I don't even remember why I was here. I was just leaving." Lux felt her heart drop. How did Jarvan get there without Lux hearing the sound of a door opening?

"Lux, it has come to my attention that you've encountered this masked vigilante on numerous occasions. I asked Garen to leave you here so I could ask you some questions about him."

"I mean, I really don't know anything about him, but I'll answer whatever I can." She felt… scared. There was something about this that didn't add up. Jarvan never asked questions, he just did what seemed right to him. Why is he asking questions?

"Excellent. Let's start off with a simple one. What is his name?"

"His name? He told me to call him Suken, but I doubt that's his real name…"

"Suken… right. Do you know how he fights?"

"The first time, I saw him use his fists. Then I saw him use a sword- one that he was able to channel some kind of magic with… it's still a blur really."

"Suken… fighting with both fist and blade. Thank you, that will be all of the questions. Run along now, I know Garen is worried to hell right about now."

"Um… yeah, I'll see you." Lux slowly walked away from Jarvan. She had a million things going through her mind now. Why is Jarvan so different? Why did he kill Fiora? And… what happened to Suken?

"Oh, and Lux?"

Her hand was on the door knob already. She wanted so badly to open the door, and run home. "Yes, Jarvan?"

"Have you seen Fiora anywhere? I'm starting to worry." Lux's heart sank. She didn't like Fiora, not at all, but she didn't want her dead. Jarvan was the one to kill her, she heard it happen. That sickening gurgling sound… there wasn't a doubt in her mind about it.

"No, I haven't seen her at all." Jarvan sighed in response.

"Very well. You may be on your way now."

"Thank you, Jarvan." Lux slowly opened the door and slowly closed it behind her. She took a few steps outside and then began to run. She wanted to get as far away from Jarvan as possible right now. She needed to find Suken. Whether it was Vestos or someone else- it didn't matter to her. Things would make a lot more sense if she wasn't alone in this.


End file.
